Re: Achillobator - how big is it??

["Timothy Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

T. Michael Keesey wrote:

> Three times the size, not length.
>
> > The femur of _Achillobator_ is about 50cm long.  As a ROUGH guide to the
> > size of smaller dromaeosaurids, the total adult body length is about ten
> > times the femoral length: _Deinonychus_'s femur is about 30cm,
>
> So 5/3 as long and three times as massive -- that doesn't sound too
> weird, does it? I'm probably/roughly/nearly three times as massive as
> someone 3/5 my height.

Point taken.  Which gives _Achillobator_ a body LENGTH of 5m at best.  Not 
so _giganticus_ in my opinion.  _Utahraptor_ is larger.

Actually the point of my post was not to quibble about which dromaeosaurid 
is bigger/longer/heavier/sexier, but how one would estimate the size (length 
in this case) of the total animal.  Is there a tendency among maniraptorans 
to have shorter hindlimbs with increasing body size?  Like the growth series 
of a tyrannosaurid, for example.


Tim

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